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Havana, Sep
1(AIN) Portuguese Nobel Laureate author Jose
Saramago has added his signature to those of some
1,500 scientists, journalists, artists and
political activists who have signed an open letter
to the US Attorney General demanding the immediate
release of the Cuban Five still unfairly confined
in US penitentiaries.
The document, published for the first time last
Tuesday in Havana, has had widespread
international press coverage including major media
in the United States. The Los Angeles Times, San
Jose Mercury News, Houston Chronicle, Univision,
El Diario (New York) and The Voice of the Americas
have highlighted
the support of such prestigious international
personalities for the cause of the Cuban Five.
Similarly, the Argentinean newspapers Pagina 12
and Clarin; Cronica Digital journal, from Chile;
El Tiempo daily and Venezolana de Television, in
Venezuela; the BBC, in the UK and El Universal, in
Mexico have all published reports of the letter.
Academic and social activist Angela Davis was one
of the first signers. For three decades she
endured similar injustices to those suffered
presently by the Cuban Five, giving her signature
a symbolic meaning. Davis recently declared in
Berlin that fighting for the freedom of the Cuban
Five is fighting against internatinal terrorism.
The number of signers of the open letter to the US
Attorney General is expected to continue to grow.
Brazilian filmmaker Walter Salles, director of
Central Station and Motorcycle Diaries; popular
Puerto Rican singer Andy Montanez; dancer and
cultural activist Julie Belafonte and novelist
Luisa Valenzuela are among those joining the
effort.
Gerardo Hernandez, Ramon Labanino, Fernando
Gonzalez,Antonio Guerrero y Rene Gonzalez, known
worldwide as 'the Cuban Five,' were detained in
1998 by the FBI after they had infiltrated right
wing Cuban American organizations in southern
Florida to prevent terrorist activities against
the Cuban and American people.
On August 9, a three judge panel of the 11th
Circuit Court of Appeals of Atlanta unanimously
ruled that the 2001 trial in Maimi was clearly
biased against the defendants, overturning their
convictions and ordering a new trial.
After seven years in prison for crimes they never
committed, most legal experts believe there is no
grounds to keep them imprisoned.
(AIN) Septenber 1, 2005
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